Lisbon (Pt. 2)

Praça do Comércio

The first time we saw the Praça do Comércio I asked a simple question: What is this? (A ‘praça’ is a square, a plein—as it’s known in Dutch, much like the English word ‘plaza’.) Known colloquially as Terreiro do Paço (the palace square), the Praça do Comércio is huge. With so much “unused” space I had to wonder out loud, but after a minute’s worth of research I got my answer.

 

View of Castelo de Sāo Jorge from Praça do Comércio

A quick 360 from the praça reveals a number of jaw-dropping features: the river on one side, a three-sided behemoth of a building completing the perimeter, a glorious statue dead center, a massive archway supporting a remarkable set of statues, and a tiny, little castle way, way, way up on a hill. Here's the thing: that castle—the Castelo de Sāo Jorge, which is anything but little—was part of the answer to my question.

Cruise ships at Praça do Comércio

When Dom Alfonso Henriques conquered Lisbon in 1147 he turned the castle into a royal residence, for which it was used during the next four centuries. In 1511, Manuel I transferred the royal residence from the castle to the current site of the Praça do Comércio. In 1755, the now infamous earthquake and subsequent fire that demolished Lisbon heavily damaged both the palace by the river and the castle.

Enter Marquês de Pombal. With an ostensibly blank slate, the Marquês envisioned a three-sided palace facing the river, which is what we see today…sort of. After the revolution of 1910, the palace was converted to government offices and the once-stately courtyard became a public square (nowadays lined on two sides by shops and restaurants and along the river by cruise ships once per week).

Current residents of Castelo de Sāo Jorge

Getting to that “tiny, little” castle was almost as memorable as the castle itself. The city is old. The streets are narrow. There’s more traffic than Daytona Beach at Spring Break, and the incline makes Everest seem doable. So we took a bus. I am quite certain that the term “peddle to the metal” originated here. It is so steep that the driver had to maintain his forward momentum lest we tumble backward into the sea. I needed a blood pressure cuff when you couple all that with the driver’s inclination to turn his head to face the women with which he maintained a continuous and boisterous conversation. (Actually, I though the same thing I say about my cardiologist: If he aine worried; I aine worried.)

The Castelo de Sāo Jorge has a long history. Built by the Moors in the 11^th century on what was once the site of a 7^th century village, the castle was designed to withstand siege. After the Christian re-conquest of the city in the 12^th century, the castle and nearby palace became the royal residence. It has since been used as military garrison, prison, and armory. More currently the site was both a theater and a park. In 1938, the castle underwent extensive renovation and the “medieval” walls were reconstructed. Everything we see today at the site of the castle is not original or exactly authentic, but one thing is for sure: from the site of the castle we can see everything.

The view is quite simply unforgettable.